Bowing to the pressure from the Left parties, the Planning Commission on Thursday dissolved all the 19 consultative groups in the light of the controversy over the presence of "foreign" experts.
The decision was taken after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned from his trip to the UK and USA during which he had stated, "we will look into all aspects of it (outside experts)."
"The Commission has reviewed the matter and has decided to dissolve the consultative groups. The Commission will revert to the earlier practice of consulting individuals separately as part of the mid-term appraisal process," the Commission said in a statement.
The announcement follows two meetings that Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia had with the prime minister since Thursday evening.